Make your year-end donation to FBA to support our Bicycle Law Enforcement Program
Dear Friends of FBA:
Do you know the laws about bicycling?
Have you ever experienced a situation in which a law enforcement officer was not aware of the laws or safe cycling practices?
The laws about bicycling are difficult and confusing. They are not a high priority in the busy schedules of officers, and they receive little or no training.
The Bicycle Law Enforcement Program (BLEP) will change that. The materials will be useful for many audiences, including cyclists and clubs, motorists and driver training, government officials and others. Since the law enforcement community is critical to all education and enforcement, they are our initial target audience. This program will change the culture of the roadways and greatly enhance the cycling environment.
2009-Five Modules
This year, we are completing five modules that will explain the laws and safe cycling practices related to some of the most basic, but most misunderstood topics, including:
- When is a cyclist required to keep right?
- When is a cyclist not required to keep right?
- Can a cyclist legally impede traffic?
- What laws are frequently violated by bicyclists and motorists?
2010 –Beta Test and Develop the Full Program
These modules will be available in DVD format and provided to selected law enforcement agencies for Beta testing during 2010. They will be 5-10 minutes in length and adapted to roll-call training opportunities.
During 2010, we will complete the remaining 15 modules to develop a comprehensive two-hour training program about the laws that will be an interactive, web-based curriculum available to any officer in the state of Florida.
There are officers around the state who are helping us insure the program materials will meet the needs of the law enforcement community by participating in the Officer Advisory Panel. Their feedback is critical to program quality.
Ask Geo – http://flbikelaw.org
As a part of the program, we have established a website for Q&A about the laws and the program. This website is helping us understand the needs and problems with law enforcement related to the laws about cycling. Please review the site and provide your input and ask questions.
Funding
In the past, the program has been funded by a Florida Department of Transportation safety grant and private donations from a very generous benefactor. We are seeking $100,000 for 2010 to complete the program
Please consider a year-end contribution to specifically fund this program. Just click “Join Us” on our homepage to make your contribution online.
For more information about the program, do not hesitate to contact program director George Martin at flbikelaw@floridabicycle.org.
On behalf of the Florida Bicycle Association Board of Directors and Advisory Members, have a happy, healthy holiday season. Your voice counts towards making Florida a bicycle-friendly place to live, work and ride. Your membership and financial support makes us stronger.
Sincerely,
Laura Hallam, Executive Director
P.S. If you need holiday gift suggestions, consider a FBA membership, FBA apparel, Share the Road license plate or gift certificate for the 2010 Bike Florida Spring Tour (March 27-April 2). Visit the website for memberships and apparel, www.sharetheroad.org to purchase a license plate, and www.bikeflorida.org for Spring Tour gift certificates.
Greenways: A win-win for everyone
I was happy to see the East Coast Greenway featured in The Times-Union (Jacksonville newspaper). Contrary to feedback from some of your readers, greenways and trails accommodate more than just bicyclists.They welcome walkers, runners, in-line skaters, hand cyclers, horseback riders and baby carriages. In addition, when it comes to typical trail users, variety is the standard. I have seen everything from spandex to cargo shorts and tricycles to skateboards. I know one man whose wife is confined to a wheelchair and they are regular greenway riders via a custom bicycle-built-for-two.
When it comes to cyclists alone, the following economic returns are documented:
- They contribute $133 billion to the U.S. economy annually.
- They support nearly 1.1 million jobs across the country.
- They generate $17.7 billion in annual federal and state tax revenue.
- They produce $6.2 billion in bicycling gear sales and services.
- They create $46.9 billion in bicycling trip-related expenditures.
Regarding real estate values, in 2003, Marion County, Ind., was studied and trails were credited for increasing property values by $140 million. A new trail corridor in Austin, Texas raised land values and generated $13.64 million in new property tax revenues. In 2006, the Dallas Morning News reported a 25 percent premium on land abutting the Katy Trail.
In Florida, the Pinellas Trail draws 1.1 million users per year and it propelled downtown Dunedin from a 30 percent vacancy rate to a waiting list for business properties. The West Orange Trail created a similar revival in downtown Winter Garden, adding about 650,000 people. Further north, the Cross Florida Greenway attracts over 2 million users annually.
Corporate America increasingly supports recreational trails. Greenways and trails provide construction jobs and increased economic growth. They offer recreational opportunities, alternative transportation and increased property value.
Most importantly, greenways and trails provide positive experiences and health benefits for generations of users.
STEVEN DAVIS,
Landscape Architect, Fruit Cove
WINTER PARK HEALTH FOUNDATION INVESTS BIG INTO BICYCLING AND WALKING BY AWARDING A TWO-YEAR $95,600 CAPACITY BUILDING GRANT TO FLORIDA BICYCLE ASSOCIATION
Improving non-motorized activity improves health on a personal and planet level. The two-year grant in the amount of $95,600 will make it possible for FBA to begin a Central Florida chapter that will deal specifically with the greater Orlando area with an emphasis on Eatonville, Winter Park and Maitland. A 2009 civility study, also funded by the Winter Park Health Foundation, granted FBA the insight as to the needs of the Winter Park, Maitland and Eatonville communities related to cycling and walking. The civility study noted that 18% of the population used bikes but riders felt unsafe and auto drivers were without knowledge on dealing with cyclists in the traffic flow. This two-year grant will place opportunity with needs granting FBA a full functioning chapter to deal directly with the finding of the civility study of 2009. Given the focus and potential for improvements 24 months from now drivers could be more educated and courteous to cyclists and walkers. Cyclists and walkers could be more safe and secure and motivated to use non-motorized healthier options much more often.
Florida’s large metro areas rank 1,2,3,4 in pedestrian danger: SW Florida Presents Problems/Neglect/Solutions
1. Florida’s only four large metro areas rank 1,2,3,4 in pedestrian danger among the nation’s large metro areas.
2. Florida’s average pedestrian danger index, at 176.6, is 2.7 times the national average of 65.6.
3. For all size metro areas, Florida has 11 of the nation’s top 25 in pedestrian danger.
4. Florida has either been ranked #1 in the nation or in the top 3 states for both pedestrian and bicycle fatalities every year since 2001.
5. 1 in every 10 US pedestrian fatalities is in Florida. 1 in every 6 US bicycle fatalities is in Florida.
6. How each of Florida’s metro areas, including our local areas, rank and compare, statewide and nationally.
7. That 13 of 20 Florida metro areas spend less than the national average of available federal dollars for pedestrian safety, $1.46/person, including Bradenton-Sarasota-Venice and Palm Coast, which spend $0.00/person.
8. Causes and solutions for the problem, including how one local city has dramatically reduced pedestrian accidents and an effort for a solution with Florida Congressman Vern Buchanan.
Orlando-Kissimmee, Tampa-St. Pete-Clearwater, Miami-Ft. Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, and Jacksonville, are ranked 1, 2, 3, and 4 in the nation’s 52 large metro areas (pop.1,000,000+) by Pedestrian Danger Index (PDI) for 2007-2008, according to a recently released report, Dangerous By Design, published by the Surface Transportation Policy Project and Transportation for America. These are the only large metro areas in Florida.
Separately, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Traffic Safety Fact reports show that, in every year from 2001 to 2008, Florida has been in the top three states in both pedestrian and bicycle fatality rates. Further, Florida was #1 in bicycle fatality rates for six years and #1 in pedestrian fatality rates for two years. No other state comes close to matching this record. Statistics compiled by Bicycle/Pedestrian Advocates (BPA) from NHTSA data, shows the rankings for these years and shows Florida accounted for 1 in 6 (16.8%) of all national bicycle fatalities and 1 in 10 (10.9%) of all national pedestrian fatalities.
As Dangerous by Design listed national rankings only for the large metro areas and only provided state rankings for smaller areas, BPA recompiled the data that provides national rankings by PDI for all of the country’s 416 metro areas, a national PDI average, and other statistics. The spreadsheet shows that the worst metro area in the country is Macon, GA with a PDI of 398.9, narrowly edging Punta Gorda, FL at 398.2. Third is Sumter, SC at 328.8. It shows that the national average PDI is 65.6 but that Florida’s average PDI is 2.69 times the national average at 176.6. The spreadsheet also shows that Florida leads the country with eleven metro areas in the top 25, followed by South Carolina with four, and Georgia with three. Florida’s 20 metro areas are listed below with their national rank, their PDI, their PDI as a percentage of the national average PDI of 65.6, and for a comparison with the country’s largest city, their PDI as a percentage of the New York City metro area’s PDI of 28.1.
National PDI PDI as % PDI as % Metro area
Rank of Nat Avg of NYC PDI
2 398.2 606.6% 1417.1% Punta Gorda
5 293.1 446.5 1043.1 Sebastian-Vero Beach
12 236.6 360.4 842.0 Ocala
13 222.5 339.0 791.8 Panama City-Lynn Haven
14 221.5 337.4 788.3 Orlando-Kissimmee
16 220.7 336.2 785.4 Lakeland-Winter Haven
17 205.5 313.1 731.3 Tampa-St. Pete-Clearwater
18 201.8 307.4 718.1 Palm Bay- Melbourne-Titusville
23 183.3 279.2 652.3 Cape Coral-Fort Myers
24 183.0 278.8 651.2 Palm Coast
25 181.2 276.0 644.8 Miami-Ft. Lauderdale-Pompano Beach
38 157.4 239.8 560.1 Jacksonville
45 150.8 229.7 536.7 Port St. Lucie
46 147.7 225.0 525.6 Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach
58 126.3 192.4 449.5 Bradenton-Sarasota-Venice
69 109.4 166.7 389.3 Tallahassee
72 105.4 160.6 375.1 Naples-Marco Island
127 74.1 112.9 263.7 Fort Walton Beach-Crestview-Destin
165 58.3 88.8 207.5 Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent Parker
176 55.5 84.6 197.5 Gainesville
Thus, Florida’s four large metro areas, Orlando-Kissimmee, Tampa-St. Pete-Clearwater, Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, and Jacksonville, have pedestrian danger indexes, respectively, 3.4, 3.1, 2.8, and 2.4 times the national average and 7.9, 7.3, 6.4, and 5.6 times that of New York City.
The leading cause of pedestrian fatalities identified by Dangerous by Design is America’s shift from Main Street to high-speed arterial roads which account for 56% of pedestrian fatalities. According to the report, “These deaths typically are labeled “accidents,” and attributed to error on the part of motorist or pedestrian. In fact, however, an overwhelming proportion share a similar factor. They occurred along roadways that were dangerous by design, streets that were engineered for speeding cars and made little or no provision for people on foot, in wheelchairs, or on a bicycle.”
The conventional wisdom is that there is not much we can do about pedestrian danger. But, Dangerous by Design identifies five ways to locally address the problem; creating walkable communities, street designs such as pedestrian refuges, better signals, and roundabouts, road diets which reduce lanes or lane widths, “Complete Streets” policies which design corridors for all users, and use of Safe Routes to Schools, a federally funded program that improves pedestrian access near schools. Indeed, one Florida city has succeeded with such tactics. St. Petersburg used federal funding to implement better street designs and become the first in the country to adopt innovative pedestrian signalization, along with efforts in education, enforcement, and bicycle facilities. Their annual pedestrian accidents fell by more than 50% from 2000 to 2008. Yet, Dangerous by Design reports that 13 of Florida’s 20 metro areas opted to spend less than the national average of $1.46 of federal dollars spent per person on pedestrian safety, including Bradenton-Sarasota-Venice and Palm Coast, which spent $0.00.
On the national level, Dangerous by Design identifies four ways to address the problem; a national Complete Streets policy, increased funding for Safe Routes to Schools, holding states accountable for safer streets, and ensuring that bicycle/pedestrian safety programs gain their fair share of safety funding. Currently, though bicycle/pedestrian fatalities account for 13% of the nation’s traffic fatalities in 2008, the USDOT spends less than 1% of its safety funding on bicycle/pedestrian efforts. In August, 2009, BPA contacted USDOT Secretary Ray LaHood and Congressman Vern Buchanan, R-Sarasota,, FL, a member of the House Transportation Committee, asking that the next USDOT budget raise bicycle/pedestrian safety spending to 13%. As of this writing, the request is still being reviewed.
All data/material sources used in this press release can be obtained by contacting:
Mike Lasche, Executive Director, BPA, 941-544-7788, mikel.modem@verizon.net.
